What Is an Immune Activator?

Activating Key Immune Cells for Proactive Immune Support

There are a number of immune health supplements that call themselves immune activators, but what do they really mean? How do they activate your immune system? And what does activating your immune system actually do? Let’s take a closer look.

Immune Activators Keep Your Immune System Ready

The immune system has a big job to do, which is to keep you healthy as we go about our daily lives.

Unfortunately, the immune system can become lethargic, especially when you’re not getting the right amount of rest, sleep and nutrients. Rather than waiting until you feel run-down, effective immune activators provide proactive immune support, helping keep your body’s natural defense system on guard and ready to perform when taken regularly.

What Is an Immune Activator?

An immune activator, or immune system activator, is an ingredient or compound that activates the immune system at the cellular level; thereby enhancing its effectiveness.

"Most traditional immune-health products really just support specific immune cells and their function but there’s are limited products that help to stimulate the immune system as a whole. People don’t truly understand that."

– Karen Todd, MBA, RD,
Vice President
Global Brand Marketing,
Kyowa Hakko USA, Inc.

The majority of immune activators (conventional probiotics, beta-glucan, etc.) work by stimulating one component of the immune system, mainly NK cell activity, giving the immune system a boost when necessary. NK, or natural killer, cells are important white blood cells that carry out a crucial role in innate immunity (the body’s first line of general defenses).

NK cells, however, are just one of many critical immune cells involved in the overall immune response. In order to proactively support the immune system, immune cells across both the innate and adaptive immune systems need to be stimulated to properly support the body’s health.

Enter: Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), a rare subset of immune cells that act as a leader of the immune system – recruiting, stimulating and organizing multiple key immune cells involved in both innate and adaptive immunity.

A cutting-edge postbiotic, IMMUSE™ (LC-Plasma) is an immune activator with a unique mechanism of action that specifically targets the activation of pDCs for more comprehensive immune support system-wide.

What Happens When the Immune System is Activated?

The immune system is a complex network of immune cells, tissues and organs that must work together. Each immune cell has its own unique role in the immune response. When an immune cell is activated, it’s primed to perform its role in the immune response.

Due to their very specialized role in both the innate and adaptive immune response, activating pDCs, on the other hand, stimulate multiple types of immune cells for more comprehensive immune support.

Once activated, pDCs secrete an interferon that signals the stimulation of other important immune cells, including NK cells, killer T cells, helper T cells and B cells, supporting and strengthening multiple components of the immune system. In other words, activated immune cells perform their individual function within the immune system more effectively.

Activated NK cells carry out their immediate role in the innate immune response; while activated T cells work together with activated B cells to provide immune support.

Is It Safe to Activate Your Immune System?

In general, rather than running the risk of overstimulating the immune system, immune activators provide the necessary nutrients needed to support healthy immune function. However, we can’t speak for other immune activators and, as always, it’s important to speak with your healthcare provider before starting any new supplement routine.

That said, multiple clinical studies have shown that IMMUSE postbiotic safely activates the immune system at the cellular level for proactive immune support. The ingredient has been the subject of 14 human trials, including 12 efficacy studies and 2 safety studies. And while the recommended dose of IMMUSE is only 50 mg/day, research has confirmed there are no safety concerns associated with human intake of IMMUSE even at 250 mg/day.

Click the button below to learn more about how IMMUSE stimulates your body’s natural defenses for year-round immune health support.*

What is IMMUSE (LC-Plasma)?